· Fans only able to see less than an hour of tennis· Pressure on tournament for parity of prize money

Wimbledon
is facing a refund bill of up to £1m after persistent rain
washed out play on the first day of the 120th tennis
championships.

Wimbledon
Championships close of play 2004

Following
an afternoon in which tournament referee Andrew Jarrett held
out the possibility that spectators might see a match, the
authorities abandoned all hope at 7.20pm last night. The rules
state that the club must fully reimburse ticketholders if they
see less than an hour's play. They must refund half the ticket
price if there is less than two and a half hours play.

An
estimated 35,000 tickets were sold for yesterday's matches,
but stars including the reigning champion Roger Federer only
played for about 40 minutes. Thousands sought the shelter of
umbrellas, awnings and plastic ponchos as the start of play
and then the late afternoon were disrupted by light showers
followed by heavy rain. Diehards, some of whom had travelled
hundreds of miles to watch Federer begin the defence of his
title, saw less than an hour's tennis as he and opponent
Richard Gasquet fled for cover, having played just one set.

There
was just time for the Kent teenager Naomi Cavaday to make her
Wimbledon main debut against 18th seed Ai Sugiyama, of Japan,
before rain stopped play. Tickets
sold in advance will be automatically refunded, but those who
queued will have to make postal claims. The All England Club
is insured for such eventualities. Weather permitting Federer
will resume his match with Gasquet today, having taken the
first set yesterday.

Tim
Henman and Andrew Murray should also play their first round
matches. The forecast today is rain in the morning, but a
brighter afternoon. Lindsay Farquharson and her son Ed, 17,
found themselves a table and took cover under a multi-coloured
umbrella to sip champagne from plastic flutes. "You could
say we are making the best of it," she said. Jane Timlett
travelled from Exeter and watched the Cavaday match until the
rain intervened. Ms Timlett and a friend retired to the food
village to eat fish and chips from a box. "Wimbledon is
lovely, but you can't say the same for the weather," she
said.

Rain
has affected Wimbledon to some degree every year for the past
decade, but the association goes back even further. The first
championships played at the current site in 1922 experienced
showers every day. Wimbledon in 2004 was one of the wettest
ever, with two days completely washed out.

Weather
aside, the tournament once again faced pressure to introduce
equal prize money for its male and female players after Roger
Draper, the new Lawn Tennis Association chief executive, threw
his weight behind the growing campaign. Twenty-four hours
after Venus Williams hit out at Wimbledon for persisting with
unequal purses for champions, Mr Draper vowed to use his
position on the Wimbledon Championships committee to lobby for
parity.

The
US and Australian Opens already offer parity. He said:
"The personal view is we should have equal pay for men
and women at the championships. Tennis needs to be a modern
sport and one which reflects the wider world. The LTA jointly
host these championships and we will continue to lobby and
work with the All England Club to ensure that in future years
there is parity."

The
All England Club did not wish to comment on Mr Draper's
statement, and is standing by its financial policy, which it
maintains is based on economic reality and not sexism. This
year's men's singles champion will earn £655,000 and the
women's champion £30,000 less.

Last
week the culture secretary, Tessa Jowell, said the discrepancy
was "tarnishing the image" of the championships

The
Championships, Wimbledon,
commonly referred to as simply "Wimbledon",
is the oldest and arguably most prestigious event in the sport
of tennis. Held every
June or July (starts 6 weeks before the first Monday in
August), the tournament is the third Grand Slam event played
each year, preceded by the Australian Open and the French
Open, and followed by the U.S. Open. The tournament (which is
the only one of the Grand Slam events played on grass)
lasts for two weeks, subject to extensions for rain. Separate
tournaments are simultaneously held for Gentlemen's Singles,
Ladies' Singles, Gentlemen's Doubles, Ladies' Doubles and
Mixed Doubles. Youth tournaments — Boys' Singles, Girls'
Singles, Boys' Doubles and Girls' Doubles — are also held.
Additionally, special invitational tournaments are held: the
35 and over Gentlemen's Doubles, 45 and over Gentlemen's
Doubles, 35 and over Ladies' Doubles and wheelchair doubles.

History

The
Championships were first played under the control of the
All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in 1877 at a ground
near Worple Road, Wimbledon; the only event held was
Gentlemen's Singles. In 1884, the All England Club added
Ladies' Singles and Gentlemen's Doubles. Ladies' Doubles and
Mixed Doubles were added in 1913. The Championships moved to
their present location, at a ground near Church Road, in 1922.
As with the other three Grand Slam events, Wimbledon
was contested by top-ranked amateur players until the advent
of the open era in tennis in 1968. Britons are very proud of
the tournament but it is a source of national anguish and
humour — no British man has won the singles event at
Wimbledon since Fred Perry in 1936, and no British woman since
Virginia Wade in 1977.

Events

There
are five main events held at Wimbledon: Gentlemen's Singles,
Ladies' Singles, Gentlemen's Doubles, Ladies' Doubles, and
Mixed Doubles. In addition, four events are held for juniors:
Boys' Singles, Girls' Singles, Boys' Doubles, and Girls'
Doubles. (The Mixed Doubles event is not held at the junior
level.) Finally, four invitational events are held: the 35 and
over Gentlemen's Invitation Doubles, the 45 and over
Gentlemen's Invitation Doubles, the 35 and over Ladies'
Invitation Doubles, and the Wheelchair Gentlemen's Invitation
Doubles.

Matches
in the Gentlemen's Singles and Gentlemen's Doubles
competitions are best-of-five sets; matches in all other
events are best-of-three sets. Most events are
single-elimination tournaments; in other words, a player who
loses a single match is immediately eliminated from the
tournament. However, the 35 and over Gentlemen's Invitation
Doubles and the 35 and over Ladies' Invitation Doubles are
both round-robin tournaments.

Each
year, the tournament begins six weeks before the first Monday
in August. It is held two weeks after the Queen's Club
Championships, which is considered the major warm-up for
Wimbledon for male players. Another important warm-up
tournament for the men is the Gerry Weber Open, which is held
in Halle, Germany at about the same time as the Queen's Club
Championships. Wimbledon usually lasts for two weeks; the main
events span both weeks, but the junior and invitational events
are for the most part held during the second week.
Traditionally, there is no play on the "Middle
Sunday," which is considered a rest day. However, rain
has forced play on the Middle Sunday thrice in Championships
history: in 1991, 1997, and 2004. On each of these occasions,
Wimbledon has staged a "People's Sunday", with
unreserved seating and readily available, inexpensive tickets.

Players
and seeding

A
total of 128 players feature in each singles event, 64 pairs
in each single-sex doubles event, and 48 pairs in Mixed
Doubles. Players and doubles pairs are admitted to the main
events on the basis of their international rankings. The
Committee of Management and the Referee evaluate all
applications for entry, and determine which players may be
admitted to the tournament directly. The committee may admit a
player without a high enough ranking as a wild card. Usually,
wild cards are players who have performed well during previous
tournaments, or would stimulate public interest in Wimbledon
by participating. The only wild card to win the Gentlemen's
Singles Championship was Goran Ivanisevic (2001); no wild card
has ever won the Ladies' Singles Title. Players and pairs who
neither have high enough rankings nor receive wild cards may
participate in a qualifying tournament held one week before
Wimbledon at the Bank of England Sports Ground in Roehampton.
The singles qualifying competitions are three-round events;
the same-sex doubles competitions last for only one round.
There is no qualifying tournament for Mixed Doubles. No
qualifier has won either the Gentlemen's Singles or the
Ladies' Singles tournaments; in 1977, John McEnroe went
farther than any other qualifier in history by reaching the
semifinals.

Players
are admitted to the junior tournaments upon the
recommendations of their national tennis associations, and, in
the case of the singles events, on the basis of a qualifying
competition. The Committee of Management determines which
players may enter the four invitational events.

The
Committee seeds the top players and pairs (thirty-two players
in each main singles events, and sixteen pairs in each main
doubles event) on the basis of their rankings. The defending
champion is normally, but not always, seeded first. A majority
of the entrants are unseeded. Only two unseeded players have
ever won the Gentlemen's Singles Championship: Boris Becker in
1985 and Goran Ivanisevic in 2001. No unseeded player has
captured the Ladies' Singles title; the lowest seeded female
champion was Venus Williams, who won in 2005 as the fourteenth
seed. Unseeded pairs have won the doubles titles on numerous
occasions; the 2005 Gentlemen's Doubles champions were not
only unseeded, but also (for the first time ever) qualifiers.

Grounds

The
nineteen courts used for Wimbledon are all composed purely of
rye grass. The speed and the low bounce of grass courts
favours serve and volley players. Serve and volleyers such as
Rod Laver, John McEnroe, Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg, and Pete
Sampras have all won the Championships. However, baseliners
such as Björn Borg have also performed very well, as have
all-court players like Roger Federer. Among women, the serve
and volley strategy is less common; one of the few female
serve and volleyers, Martina Navrátilová, won Wimbledon on a
record nine occasions.

The
main show courts, Centre Court and No. 1 Court, are used only
for two weeks a year, during the Championships. The remaining
seventeen courts, however, are regularly used for other events
hosted by the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club.
Wimbledon is the only Grand Slam event played on grass courts.
At one time, all of the other Grand Slam events were played on
grass. The French Open
abandoned grass for its current red clay in 1928, while the
U.S. and Australian Opens stayed with grass decades longer.
The U.S.
Open abandoned grass for a synthetic clay surface in 1975,
and changed again to a hard surface with its 1978 move to its
current venue. The Australian
Open abandoned grass for a different type of hard surface in
1988.

The
main court, Centre Court, was opened in 1922 when the All
England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club moved from Worple Road to
Church Road. Due to possibility of rain during Wimbledon, a
retractable roof is planned for the court; it is expected to
be completed in 2009. The court has a capacity of almost
14,000; at its south end is the Royal Box, from which members
of the Royal Family and other dignitaries watch matches.
Centre Court usually hosts the finals and semifinals of the
main events, as well as many matches in the earlier rounds
involving top-seeded players.

The
second most important court is No. 1 Court. The court was
constructed in 1997 to replace the old No. 1 Court, which was
adjacent to Centre Court, but was demolished because its
capacity for spectators was too low. The original No. 1 Court
was said to have a unique, more intimate atmosphere, and was a
favourite of many players. The new No. 1 Court has a capacity
of approximately 11,000. The third-largest court, No. 2 Court,
has been dubbed the "Graveyard of Champions" due to
its reputation as the court on which many seeded players have
been eliminated during the early rounds. Famous players who
have lost on the Graveyard during early round play include
John McEnroe, Pete Sampras, and Serena Williams. The court has
a capacity of about 3,000.

At
the northern end of the grounds is a giant television screen
on which important matches are broadcast. Fans watch from an
area of grass officially known as Aorangi Park, but more
commonly called Henman Hill. The "hill" takes its
name from local favourite Tim Henman, whom many fans hope will
become the first British man to win the tournament since Fred
Perry did so in 1936. Due to Tim Henman's early exit and
British newcomer Andy Murray's relative success in the 2005
Championship, the hill may be renamed as Murray Mound, Mount
Murray, or Murray Field (after the Scottish rugby stadium).

Traditions

The
order of play for all courts is displayed

on
boards around the grounds

Dark
green and purple (sometimes also referred as mauve) are the
traditional Wimbledon colours. Green apparel is worn by the
chair umpire, linesmen, ball boys, and ball girls. The All
England Club requires players to wear "predominantly
white" clothing during matches. No other Grand Slam
tournament has such a strict dress code for players. During
matches, female players are always referred to with the title
"Miss" or "Mrs". (Formerly, married female
players were referred to by their husband's names: for
example, Chris Evert-Lloyd appeared on scoreboards as
"Mrs. J. M. Lloyd" during her marriage to John M.
Lloyd. However, this custom has been abandoned.) On the other
hand, the title "Mr" is never used for male players.

Previously,
players bowed or curtsied to members of the Royal Family
seated in the Royal Box upon entering or leaving Centre Court.
In 2003, however, the President of the All England Club, HRH
The Duke of Kent, decided to discontinue the tradition. Now,
players are required to bow or curtsy only if the Queen or the
Prince of Wales is present.

For
the spectators, strawberries and cream is the traditional
snack at Wimbledon. Approximately 28,000 kilograms of
strawberries and 7,000 litres of cream are sold each year
during the Championships.

Since
1992 Radio Wimbledon has broadcast commentary, speech and
music from 7am to 10pm daily throughout the championship. It
can be heard within a four-mile radius on 87.7 FM and also
online

Trophies
and prize money

The
Gentlemen's Singles champion receives a silver gilt cup 18.5
inches (about 47 cm) in height and 7.5 inches (about 19 cm) in
diameter. The trophy has been awarded since 1887. It bears the
inscription "The All England Lawn Tennis Club Single
Handed Champion of the World." The Ladies' Singles
champion receives a sterling silver salver commonly known as
the "Venus Rosewater Dish," or simply the
"Rosewater Dish." The salver, which is 18.75 inches
(about 48 cm) in diameter, is decorated with figures from
mythology. The winners of the Gentlemen's Doubles, Ladies'
Doubles, and Mixed Doubles events receive silver cups. The
runner-up in each event receives an inscribed silver plate.
The trophies are usually presented by the President of the All
England Club, HRH The Duke of Kent, and by his wife, HRH The
Duchess of Kent.

At
Wimbledon, more prize money is awarded in the Gentlemen's
events than in the Ladies' events. This is justified by the
rules that men must win 3 out of 5 sets to win a match,
whereas women only need to win 2 out of 3. The French Open
also offered higher prize money for men until 2006, when it
joined the Australian Open and the U.S. Open in offering equal
prize money. In 2005 Wimbledon prize money exceeded £10
million (the exact amount was £10,085,510) in total for the
first time. The sums awarded to the winners of each of the
main events in 2005 are as follows (the amounts shown for the
doubles events are per pair): 2005 Prize Money Summary:

Gentlemen's
Singles: £650,000

Ladies'
Singles: £625,000

Gentlemen's
Doubles: £218,500

Ladies'
Doubles: £203,250

Mixed
Doubles: £90,000

Men's
doubles winners, 2004

Champions

Gentlemen's
Singles

Ladies'
Singles

Gentlemen's
Doubles

Ladies'
Doubles

Mixed
Doubles

Last
British Gentlemen's Singles champion: Fred Perry (1936)

Last
British Ladies' Singles champion: Virginia Wade (1977)

Records

Record

Player

Titles

Winner
of most Gentlemen's Singles Championships

William
Renshaw

7

Pete
Sampras

7

Winner
of most Ladies' Singles Championships

Martina
Navrátilová

9

Winner
of most Gentlemen's Doubles Championships

Todd
Woodbridge

9

Winner
of most Ladies' Doubles Championships

Elizabeth
Ryan

12

Winner
of most Mixed Doubles Championships

Elizabeth
Ryan

7

Winner
of most Championships (total)

Billie
Jean King

20

Martina
Navrátilová

20

External
links

In 1877,
the All England Club held the first Wimbledon tournament, and its
tournament committee came up with a rectangular court and a set of
rules that are essentially the game we know today. The net was still
five feet high at the sides, a carryover from the game's indoor
ancestor, and the service boxes were 26 feet deep, but by 1882, the
specifications had evolved to their current form.